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In one of the most unique collaborations I have seen lately with The Andy Warhol Foundation (the ever-licensing organization also recently partnered with Perrier and Bugaboo), Dior has utilized some of Warhol’s early hand drawn work from the 1950s in his Fall/Winter 2013 collection. “For me Warhol made so much sense,” Dior creative director Raf Simons said of the collaboration on Dior’s website. “I was interested in the delicacy and sensitivity in the early work he did, I was drawn to that graphic style naturally in this collection. It was that notion of hand work and personal signature that fitted throughout.” Particularly, Simons worked Warhol’s “Stamped Shoe with Butterflies 1961,” “High Heel,” and “Shoe 1955” onto several handbags and silk dresses.

The collection as a whole is truly a nod to the label’s founder. Christian Dior himself was an avid art enthusiast, a close friend of many artists, and a gallerist prior to his move into fashion. The collection centered around a theme of surrealism, with the art of Dali and Giacometti serving as much of his inspiration. The notions of Surrealism and Pop through Warhol’s drawings were brought together in what was referred to in the show dossier as a “scrapbook.” To top it all off, the dreamscape of the show’s set brought to mind Magritte with a cloud-covered path winding around large mirrored spheres.

A number of dresses incorporating Warhol drawings from the Dior Autumn/Winter 2013 collection

“All of my collections draw on art for inspiration in one way or another, so it was a bit of a no brainer really! It was only a matter of time before my love of art and designing handbags fused together.”

-Lulu Guinness to WWD at the launch of her Paint Project limited edition clutch in London

Accessories designer Lulu Guinness’s two favorite worlds—art and fashion—have collided with the recent launch of “Paint Project,” a limited-edition capsule collection designed in collaboration with artist Joseph Steele. Guinness was inspired by Steele’s unique use of paint and his “experimental” approach to art, utilizing his technique in her collection in which paint is shotgunned and splattered onto the designers’s lip-themed clutches.

Party guests at the launch party in London last week watched as bags were created in real-time, soon to be sold on eBay with proceeds benefitting The Art Room, a charity that supports art therapy for children in need. The full 180-piece collection is available in LuLu Guinness stores and online.

The designer at the launch party last week

Paint-splattered handbags being created in real time at the launch party

Two x Two for AIDS and Art was an organization built around collaboration from the beginning, with proceeds of each initiative benefiting both amFAR and the Dallas Museum of Art. This year, after a grand meeting of fashion, art, and philanthropic minds, emerged 10 incredibly beautiful, unique handbags designed by 10 artists for the Nancy Gonzalez company entitled Two x Two 2012. The sales of these one of a kind works will benefit both organizations.

So how did artists like Jim Hodges, Will Cotton, and Jenny Holzer come to partner with a luxury handbag line? The President of Nancy Gonzalez, Santiago Barberi Gonzalez, was visiting Dallas last year when Jim Gold, the President of Neiman Marcus, suggested he take some time for himself on his visit and see some incredible art. Gonzalez, himself a collector, happily visited museums and private collections, including that of Howard and Cindy Rachovsky, the philanthropic masterminds behind Two x Two. The rest is history. As you can see from the images below, the passionate spirits of all those involved commissioned 10 noteworthy Contemporary Artists to design unique handbags to benefit the charitable cause. The bags will be auctioned off October 20, 2012 at the annual gala, however you do NOT have to be present to place a bid (or win a bag!!). Bids will be accepted online on Paddle8 (where you can also view all 10 works) from October 4-18.

Was anyone able to get their hands on a James Nares for Coach bag? The recent collaboration resulted in five limited edition tote bags covered in the artist’s trademark brushstroke paintings, most frequently made in a single brushstroke “recording a gestural passage of time and motion across the canvas.” Priced at $798, the luxurious tote bags are made of made of double-layered Italian canvas trimmed in vachetta leather. Only 175 of each were made – and they flew off shelves. There are still a few available in green only on Coach’s website – so if you are as in love as I am you better act fast!